Chapter 36

Erick

“Why didn’t you warn me before, damn it! Why didn’t you tell me?” The table in front of me cracked in the middle, its contents falling to the floor. Glass shattered to a million multi-coloured pieces.
“That’s because you have this vexatious anger with anything that has to do with Emiel that blinds you to the truth. You just don’t listen to any other recourse!” This was the first time Ken had ever raised his voice at me, but I was too blinded by anger to care.
“He took Alina, Kendrick!” I gritted out. “My bond to her is gone. It just shut down, and I have no other way of contacting her. She might be hurt, Ken! Why didn’t you warn me the second that piece of trash uttered a single word?”
“Are you even listening to yourself, Erick? That piece of trash is your brother, and he risked his own life to try to warn me!” Ken snapped back. “The instant he told me about Aaron, he fell to the floor choking on his own blood! He hasn’t woken up since, and the healers suggest a brain haemorrhage. Tell me this, though, Erick. Would you have believed Emiel even if he told you Aaron’s name? Would you have trusted him?”
I balled my fists as I gritted my teeth against the haze of anger and tried to think past it. “No,” I finally answered Ken after a long moment of silence. “Aaron was her family.” He was someone Alina should never have had to fear. Now, it was that same kin who was holding my Alina hostage, and I had no way of finding her.
The vampire guards who followed the car couldn’t trace it past the main castle gates. It was as if they disappeared into thin air. And that could only mean one thing: a mage was working for them. Only a mage had the power to make something that big vanish completely without leaving behind any scent trail.
Ken placed a hand on my shoulder, snapping me out of my thoughts and my futile attempt to reach Alina through our bond. “I think Alina was right, Erick. He’s just another victim. I know you’ve been enemies your whole life and it’s not going to be easy to start trusting him again, but this isn’t just about the two of you anymore. Do this for Alina. Work with Emiel to get her back.”
It took me a while to get past the repulsion, to let the rage subside, but when it was gone, I could think with absolute clarity.
“Order the guards to search every nook and corner of the Cain estate. Search for any clues as to where they could be,” I ordered. “Get the best healers in the kingdom, and have them work on Emiel. I need him healed within the hour, but make sure he can’t get out of his cell. We’re still not sure if Emiel is possessed, so tell everyone to be extra careful while dealing with him.”

Alina

I stirred at the sound of an engine roaring shut. At first, it was very difficult to get my eyes open. They felt too heavy and unwilling, but then the reason for my unconsciousness flashed through my mind, and my eyes snapped open. I stared ahead at a moonless night as a train passed in front of our car.
Groggily, I looked around, trying to assess the situation. I tried to contact Erick through our bond, but there was only emptiness on the other side. From what I could tell by looking out the tinted glass windows, we were on an abandoned grass field with no houses in sight and only a railway track ahead with automatic machinery which now lifted up the bars to let us through.
“Ah, you’re awake!” Startled, I looked to my right and found my great grandfather seated in the driver’s side. “It was getting lonely in here. I hate the silence. It makes me feel all alone, and I don’t like feeling alone.”
I tried to sit up properly but found my hands tied behind my back. “Why did you tie me? Where are you taking me?”
“You’re so curious,granddaughter.” He shook his head. “Your mother was the same, you know? She was always the one to ask questions, and that was what cost her life. What a pity. She could’ve been of great use.”
A feeling of dread filled my stomach. My body went numb from the implication of what my great grandfather was telling me. I knew without him saying out loud. “You killed her.”
“Why yes! Of course, I did,” Aaron said with overflowing excitement in every word. “I called her one fine day and explained all the plans I had for you. I’d initially planned for her to be the vessel, but it seems she still had some vampire blood in her veins. You, on the other hand, were completely human.”
“Why did you kill my mother? She was your granddaughter!” I didn’t get it. How could he kill his own grandchild like that? Why?
“Because she was going to try to stop me.” Aaron started the car and drove forward. “She was going to warn the king. How could I let that happen? If I got caught, Tuhin and all the other Ancients would be discovered and eliminated. That was not supposed to happen. The Ancients are the ones who created the worlds and divided the dimensions. They were born to rule, but the selfishness of the races almost cost them their lives. And now, they will rise once again and reclaim their throne. It doesn’t matter that they might wear the skin of another. Their hearts will still be the same.”
“So that’s what a vessel is supposed to do? Hold another soul?” If that was correct, then what would happen to me? I already knew the answer to that question, but still, I asked him.
“Yes, and your soul will die out, of course. In the presence of such a magnificent power, you will simply cease to exist.” Then he smiled. “But, who knows? He may even keep you alive and give you the honour of staying with him inside your body. You never know. Ah! We’re here.”
I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole as the car came to a halt in the middle of nowhere. The very air around this place was filled with the stench of death.
We were in a meadow with no signs of habitation for miles on all sides. The strange thing was, this meadow was covered with dense forests on one side and wide grassland on the rest. What was more, a meadow at a place like this wasn’t unnatural, but one of these sizes definitely was.
“Get off,” Aaron said from outside the car. I hadn’t realized that he’d gotten off the vehicle. “And don’t try to run. It’s futile. There’s nothing but forest for miles on end here. Plus, there are at least a few hundred predators out there that would love to feast on you.”
I got off the car without hesitation even though the entire place made me want to run as far from it as possible. There wasn’t really much of a choice in front of me. I had to comply if I hoped to have a chance of getting out of here alive. “Why are we here?” I asked, looking around at the deserted place.
“Won’t you like to meet the Ancient, dear granddaughter? I know he’s very anxious to meet you.”
My eyes widened in horror as the air in front of us rippled and moved. Soon, the tiny shrubs and grasses of the meadow were replaced by a giant temple. It must be thousands of years old yet utterly magnificent. The carvings on the temple told forgotten stories of war and civilization. Vampires weren’t the only creatures drawn on the monuments which seemed to be cut off from a huge mountain. There were several other creatures engraved on the temple walls. However, my mind was quickly diverted from the beauty of the monument by the putrid smell clouding the air. It was too intense to be coming from the few decaying animals around us. That could only mean one thing: there were bodies inside the temple, probably human and vampire both.
“Let’s go.” Aaron grabbed onto my hand and tugged me inside. Resistance proved futile as he was an old vampire, and I was only in transition. Soon we climbed up the stairs and went into the main hallway where the stench made me heave.
“Sorry about the smell. Tuhin has become a little greedy recently, and he didn’t quite like the cleaning staff,” Aaron said as he dragged me further inside.
“Sire.”
A woman’s voice stopped Aaron in his tracks. We waited as a woman appeared in front of us and bowed before Aaron. The woman looked to be in her mid-thirties. Her long black hair reached past her hips, and we’re braided in the front to keep the hair off her face. She looked a lot like Aaron, which meant she was a part of his clan, but for some reason, she didn’t have that unearthly beauty that was the characteristics of a vampire. She wore a black shirt with leather pants and a grey trench coat. Around her neck was a necklace almost identical to the one Aaron gave me, the one I was still wearing. On the left-hand side of her face, just below her temple, was a black mark. It looked like a snake crawling down her cheek, but there was something about the mark that didn’t make it seem like a tattoo.
You’ll know when you see it.
Mage! This woman was a mage!
“Isel, how is the spell coming along?” Aaron asked.
“It’s ready. We can begin as soon as her transformation is complete.”
“Perfect! Now, keep watch on the barriers. I’m going to take my great granddaughter to meet Tuhin.”
“Sire.”Isel bowed her head and disappeared down another hallway.
“Erick will find me!” I said as he began dragging me behind him. My legs felt as heavy as lead. “He’s the future king. He’ll definitely find me and then you’ll have to pay for your deeds!”
Just then, he pushed past a pair of huge wooden doors, and the sight beyond sent me to my knees gagging.
“Don’t you see it!” He spread his arms around while smiling like a madman. “You were born for greater things. Who cares about Erick? Who cares about the royal bloodline when it’ll only be a matter of time before we eliminate them! Before you, eliminate them. It won’t be long now. The transfusion will begin as soon as your transformation is complete, and then there will be nothing that can stop us.”
For the first time in my life, I resented being turned into a vampire.